A Piece of Dixon History: City was site of largest condensed milk plant in the world

Editor’s Note: Today’s column is the second in a three-part series about George Page, Dixon’s homegrown megasuccessful entrepreneur.

In part 1, published Sept. 6, we learned about the meteoric rise of George Page. In this installment, we learn of his return from Switzerland to Dixon to build his eighth and largest condensed milk factory.

The largest in the world

The Telegraph’s editor, B.F. Shaw, was an old friend of George Page, the two having known each other from boyhood. In 1888, Shaw helped broker Page’s purchase, from John Dement, of 25 acres of land along the river in North Dixon west of the railroad bridge. Page also obtained from the Illinois Central Railroad a rail spur into the proposed plant on the grounds then known as “the Bluffs.”

Page said he intended to make the Dixon plant of his Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company “the most extensive and complete factory of all the extensive works yet erected by the company.” He spent “upwards of a half million dollars” (about $20 million today) on the grounds, buildings and equipment. When finished, the Dixon factory was widely reported to be “the largest condensed milk plant in the world.”

George’s brother, William B. Page, came back to America from Switzerland to run the impressive Dixon operations. William had worked in management with Anglo-Swiss in London and Switzerland since 1872 and was ready for the challenge.

Building Dixon’s Swissville

Needing experienced workers, George Page enticed squadrons of Swiss technicians and managers to immigrate to Dixon to work in his premier plant. The first group of Swiss workers from Cham arrived in Dixon in May 1889, taking seven days to cross the Atlantic.

Upon arrival, Page provided them generous wages, medical care and housing in a furnished, two-story building with dining rooms, a large kitchen and sleeping quarters. While some employees built homes on what is now called First Avenue, Page had 10 “first class dwellings erected on the milk factory grounds north of the Palmyra road.”

By 1892, an entire new village had sprouted west of North Dixon, and the area became known as Swissville. Two small streets in that area, Anglo Street and Swiss Street, provide evidence of the area’s Swiss heritage and its dependence on Page’s factory.

The dairy farmers’ delight

As with all of the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk factories, local farmers found instant profitable business with the factory. Dixon-area farmers who supplied milk agreed to certain standards for the care and feeding of their cows and the cleanliness and conditions of the cow environment and milk cans. Such cooperation helped to ensure a quality product.

As the Dixon factory swung into operation, about 250 workers were employed, receiving daily arrivals of fresh milk from about 6,000 local cows, requiring annual railroad shipments of 2,000 railcars coming in and out of the Anglo-Swiss factory on Palmyra Road.

Growth of Dixon operations

In 1890, O.B. Dodge, a leading Dixonite, traveled to Cham, Switzerland, to visit the Page brothers. He reported back to the Telegraph of the current status of the Anglo-Swiss business.

“The product of the Cham factory is about seven millions of cans of milk, 225,000 pounds of butter, 250,000 pounds of cheese annually, and the product of the eight factories combined is between 40 and 50 millions of cans of milk annually.”

He added, “The product is shipped all over the world, the labels for the cans being printed in ten different languages.”

George and Adelheid Page provided first-class Swiss hospitality to Dodge, who reported that their mountain home of more than 300 acres had a “beautiful” view of the lake, the mountain range and the nearby city of Zug. But this was only the Pages’ summer home; they also maintained homes in New York and Paris.

By 1892, a local historian said the Dixon factory “had brought much capital into the city and has increased materially the wealth of city and county.” The sprawling condensery featured “a pleasing and appropriate style of architecture, and its handsome, well-laid out grounds are an ornament to the locality.”

Hazelwood

But the benefits to the Dixon area extended far beyond the factory and its generous treatment of workers. Page also invested in the city in various ways.

In 1890, with “the intention of spending his life there,” George Page purchased Hazelwood from the estate of its original owner, “Governor” Alexander Charters. Hazelwood, at the far north end of North Brinton Avenue, is now known as the Walgreen Estate.

Page “spent a fortune on improvements” and cleared trees that obstructed the grand views of Rock River. He also obtained permission and paid for the removal of the buried bodies of Alexander Charters and three others from Hazelwood to Oakwood Cemetery.

Later, in 1898, Page provided extensive personal funding to assist the city in building a macadamized (crushed stone) road on “Hazelwood Road” from the Morris farm, now the Kitzman farm, out to the Hazelwood property. In an era when many city roads were muddy thoroughfares, the modern road helped to encourage city expansion.

Adelheid Park

In the 1890s one of Dixon’s priceless natural landmarks was “The Old Elm,” a giant tree on Dr. Oliver Everett’s home in Elmdale Park, now known as Camp Reynoldswood. In 1894, Page bought the entire property and soon renamed it Adelheid Park in honor of his Swiss wife. Adelheid Street in “Frog Hollow,” just west of the factory, was also likely named in her honor.

In 1898, George hired “a gang of men” to macadamize the streets of Swissville and the roads in Adelheid Park. Even though the park was his property, he encouraged Dixonites to freely enjoy its “romantic drives up ravines and along the bluffs, one of the most charming places in all the beautiful Rock River Valley.”

The Telegraph said, “Mr. Page expresses more and more pleasure with Dixon and his property here with each visit, and as he has seen the world, his compliments are very pleasing to the natives here.”

Page himself said that he purchased Hazelwood and Adelheid Park so that “the chief features of nature’s loveliness in Lee County might not be destroyed.” Besides these contributions of nature to Dixon, Page gave generously to many other local causes, such as the erection of the “new” 1892 Methodist church, the library, and to the fund for a Dixon hospital, which became KSB.

In part 3, which will be published Oct. 4, we’ll learn of George Page’s sudden death, the creation of Page Park and Page Drive, and how his death led to the slow demise of the Page empire.

- Dixon native Tom Wadsworth is a writer, speaker and occasional historian. He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament.